The north-central plain, the heartland of the Sinhalese state from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, kept alive by great tanks (wewa) and canals (ela), with villages (gam) under their headmen and village councils (gamsabha), monastery estates and royal lands.
The king's officers take the grain tax and the labour that keeps the tanks. When the tanks fail the country empties; Magha's conquest of 1215 and the later abandonment of the tanks are later events and are not carried back.
Who holds it
- Name
- Queen Lilavati at Polonnaruwa and the royal officers
- Title
- Whoever leads or speaks for the province
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
see allegiance
What it holds
- Gamsabha village councils
- Tank officers and water-guards
- Monastic estates of the united Sangha
- Royal lands round Polonnaruwa
Allies and rivals
None; the royal country.
How things stand that morning
The tanks are standing and in use on 1 January 1200 (the brief says so of Parakramabahu's works). The plain is quiet under the queen.
Wealth
Irrigated rice, elephants, tank fish, the royal share of monastery produce.
Military
No figure is given by any source we reached.
Places of note
- Sigiriya: The rock fortress of the fifth century, a monastery site in 1200.
- Ritigala: Forest monastery ruins on the mountain.
- Somawathiya: Stupa on the Mahaweli.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry kala-wewa, yoda-ela, elahera-anicut, nachchaduwa-tank and the Anuradhapura tanks are covered in the town and tank records.
Evidence: Short secondary sources; no dated headman or assembly for 1200.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Drawn as a rough polygon snapped to land units.
Primary sources for Lanka (Polonnaruwa)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. Read online
- South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online
- The Book of Roger (the Pleasure of Him who Longs to Cross the Horizons), Muhammad al-Idrisi (completed 1154 at Palermo). The nearest Arabic geography in time to 1200 for the Indian Ocean. Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.